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Sunday, January 8, 2017

Blubber Burn Classic 8 - a race report.

The horses await the carnage

Spectating in style

The eighth Blubber Burn Classic took place on January 15th. The race
was well attended by people of commendable
panache but questionable judgment.
This race is one of the oldest races on the Stuckylife
calendar and is without doubt the most technical cross race on the
Island. The Blubber Burn takes place on the trails of the "The Dump," a
mountain biking park located in the Mount Work area in Victoria. This
has been the location for the ill advised race since it's humble
beginnings in 2010.
This year, as luck would have it, we enjoyed a
window of favorable weather which brought out a good selection of
people itching to burn some blubber. In fact it was one of the best
attended 'burns in it's history with about 50 racers and a smattering of
excellent spectators.

The race was highly contested this year with Parker Bloom battling
the veteran and technical virtuoso Drew McKenzie. Their duel
lasted the whole race, culminating in a flat out sprint for the finish
"line" which at that time was occupied by oblivious half drunk
spectators and various distracted racers with mechanicals. Drew edged
out Parker and took the win. Hot on their heels was a charging Cody
Canning and in fourth with a stellar performance for Team Great Britain
was Blake Crouch. The race directör rounded out the American podium.

On the ladies side the race was handily
won by Silvia Storey (on a singlespeed no less), with Joanna Fox in
second and Andrea Akelaitis in third. It's worth
mentioning that this was Andrea's first CX race, which will undoubtedly
make the next one feel easy in comparison.

The Top finisher in the U19
Category was won by the 13 year old Nick Voss but 47 years separated the
oldest and the youngest competitor this year.

Special mention must be made of the young ripper Ella Smith who was our youngest racer at 10 years old and will be a force to reckon with before long.
Also a huge shout out to all that came over from the mainland and up Island for the Race. We had People from Port Alberni, Squamish, and a good crew from Vancouver. Thanks!

Thanks to Caleb and Terry for documenting the silliness.

Also check out the highly entertaining Instagram hashtags below. Time well wasted.
#blubberburn #blubberburnclassic #blubberburn2017